Cooking away Rock in the roaster

[snuffy]

I dont know if this thread should go here,but I am in the middle of trying out the turkey roaster method for cooking rock.I inserted a meat thermometer in the roaster.It registered 550 on the side,thats as high as it registers, and 450 in the middle.Got all different materials,just wondering how long to cook it at this temp,was thinking 6 hours,then start temping down.this has been a simple process so far,dont know how it will turn out.Got coral from Jason in it too.

snuffy

[jamesp]

Since you took pictures before you will get a quick education Snuffy when all comes out of the cooker.I do 4-6 hours at full temp.If you get 550 on the side,it will get pretty darn hot all the way thru by conduction.I hope you got palm in there.Are you inside or outside.College Station is warm place.I used to buy my water lily stock from the Strawn family for years.They are great folks and still have many of their hybrids on the farm.
Just go slow up and slow back down.Any fast temp movements can fracture the whole shabangs

[snuffy]

I'm about 15 miles northeast of College Station.I think I'll leave em for 8 hours then back off.Wont lose nothing but a little electricity.8 hours was the recommended time for the majority of material in there.Yeah,got a few palm slabs in there!

snuffy

[mohs]

not sure I can make it over in time
for the rock'n'roll stew
but it sounds good...mostly
Ed

[snuffy]

Ed,got till tommorow night till it cools down enough,mostly!

snuffy

[mohs]

Ha Ha Snuf !
I'll bring my own recipe
of slurry enriched corn bread
better get rolling!
Ed

[jamesp]

A long time to cool is good Mr Snuffy.Helps to be patient.It might surprise you how long it takes that thing to cool down.If it is insulated it will take real long.

[dtcmor]

Are you using a "medium" to cook your material in the roaster? I use a bag of dried sand(like the playground bags you can buy at Lowes) in my roaster when I cook my flint for knapping. The sand helps evenly distribute the temperatures so everything cooks throughout. I do alternate layers of sand and rock until full. Also, if you remove the inner pan of the roaster and cook in the heating part, you can get higher temps up to about 600-625 depending on the make of roaster you use. For my Flint Ridge material, I cook for about 16-24 hrs before I let it cool, but you just have to experiment with whatever recipes work best for your material. It is better to start small and ramp it up to longer times and temps. You can always recook a batch that needs a little more, but if you overdo it you can cook your rock into powder with too much time or temps.

[jamesp]

Thanks for those tips dtcmor.looks like you got some skills/experience.i seem to be learning the hard way to slow things down w/the heat and max temps.

[snuffy]

I used sand.I watched a youtube video by bohunter that showed what to do and the loadup.Wouldnt have known what to do otherwise.Its now 9 hours after turnoff and the temp is down to 150.Got some Flint Ridge in it too.I dont know what the max temp I got it to as the thermometer maxed out at 550.

snuffy

[roy]

oh man ! cant wait to see what that palm looks like when done !!

[gr]

When's the showing? Lookin forward to seeing what ya got

[snuffy]

Gary,might have some pics late this afternoon.Temp is still 135, 36 hours after I started.

snuffy

[gr]